The True State of the Nation - February 2015

On the 12th of February, President Jacob Zuma will present the State of the Nation Address (SoNA) to the country. During his speech, he will talk about government’s achievements of the past year and present the programme for the coming year.

#ThePeoplesSoNA

We live in a country of doers. And perhaps the doers, innovators and warm people of South Africa should be hosting our own SoNA and celebrating our own achievements. So just what is the state of our nation?

In a country where the Eskom crisis, parliamentary chaos, crime and corruption makes the headlines, it’s easy to feel that the state of our beautiful nation is all doom and gloom (especially in the middle of load shedding). Is this the true state of our nation? What are our achievements at the ground level?

South Africans are confronting society’s challenges. We are doing it ourselves. To give you some idea, there are over 100 000 registered NPOs and this does not include the thousands of community projects and individuals who are making a difference. Active citizenry is happening across the width and breadth of our country. Think back to the NEKnomination craze that took the globe by storm. What was invented by an Aussie as an excuse to flex your drinking skills, was reinvented by a South African as a way to pay it forward. South Africans everywhere embraced it, and it became known globally as the “South African NEKnomination.” That’s pretty darn awesome.

We all know the state of education in South Africa. Though we have some of the world’s top schools and 10 of our 23 universities rank in the top 7.5 percent of universities globally, only 4% of black youth will make it to the hallowed halls of a university. Things are looking up however, there are many initiatives on the ground working to close the gap. Enter UCT and Wits. They have joined leading global tertiary educational institutions in offering free online courses to more than 200,000 students in South Africa and Africa. Read more

The Giant Flag team have a project that will celebrate the innovative spirit of South Africa and her people, generate clean energy, create jobs AND be seen from space, nogal! They are building a giant South African flag (the size of 66 soccer fields) made up of millions of coloured desert plants and a solar field. Job creation, clean energy and tourism come together in a world first green innovation project that’s making change happen in South Africa!

These are a fraction of the achievements by us, the people of South Africa. We are not saying that South Africa is perfect, we‘re not in the dark (except during the above mentioned load shedding!!). What we are saying is that it is ordinary South Africans that make this country we call home, awesome. Despite the chaos and disparaging things we witness, our people are caring and innovative and are working tirelessly to pick up the slack.

This is the true state of our nation.

Share your awesome achievements and the difference you hope to make in the coming year using #ThePeoplesSoNA in the comments below . After all, it is the collective acts of kindness which will shape our country.